Souvent souspire mon cuer – Early Music Muse

Kalenda maya, the troubadours, and the lessons of traditional music

Ian Pittaway ars antiqua, estampie, folk music, historically informed performance, Jean de Grouchy, Johannes de Grocheio, Kalenda maya, medieval, medieval notation, Notre Dame school, O'Neill's Music of Ireland, Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, rhythmic modes, Souvent souspire mon cuer, traditional music, troubadours, trouvères 10th August 201713th February 2024 4 Comments

BnFms854f.75vRaimbautdeVaqueiras — Raimbaut de Vaqueiras as depicted
in a 14^th century French manuscript
(Bibliothèque nationale de France ms. 854, folio 75v).

Kalenda maya is a 12^th century song by troubadour, Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, one of the Occitanian (later southern French) poets and singers who developed the musical tradition of fin’amor, refined or perfect love. Via Roman fertility festivals and Irish fiddle tunes, this article discusses the poetic content of the song and the problems of interpreting the musical notation of Kalenda maya, penned when written music was still developing in medieval Europe. Can there be a definitive version when there are textual variants of the same song or melody? How credible are renditions of Kalenda maya that impose a musical rhythm not present on the original page?

Raimbaut de Vaqueiras based the melody of Kalenda maya on an estampie he heard at court in Italy. Using principles written in 1300, I attempted to reverse engineer the sung estampie back into the tune it originally was. The reasons this proved impossible tell us something important about medieval music and the continuance of the spirit in which it was played.

We begin with a video of two interpretations of the melody played on gittern.

Angelus ad virginem: why early music and traditional music share the same gene pool

Ian Pittaway Angelus ad virginem, Barbara Allen, Chaucer Geoffrey, folk music, Gabriel fram evene king, Gabriel fram heven king, Kalenda maya, Lowlands of Holland, Souvent souspire mon cuer, traditional music, troubadours, trouvères 20th March 201726th September 2023 3 Comments

Angelus ad virginem was a popular medieval and renaissance song, appearing in six manuscripts from the late 13^th to mid 16^th century in England, France and Ireland, with Latin words – Angelus ad virginem – and English words – Gabriel fram evene king. In each source, the melody is recognisably similar but different in detail, indicating a constant reworking of the musical material. This is also the central feature of traditional or folk music. Via Geoffrey Chaucer, Barbara Allen and the troubadours, this article traces the history of the variant versions of Angelus / Gabriel, arguing for the familial relationship between early music and traditional music, beginning with a performance of Angelus on medieval harp.